The fight for Hermione
by Ami Rotter
Summary: Hermione finally got the man of her dreams but she also got the man of her nightmares, how will she cope?
1. This is only the beginning

Ron and Hermione sat next opposite to each other at breakfast in the great hall, it had been two months since Ron had plucked up the courage to tell Hermione his feelings. Since then they were inseparable they would sit making gooey eyes at each other, or simple just sitting next to each other holding hands. Hermione was getting hardly any work done, as she had spent most of her time with Ron.

**"Em Ron, your elbow" **Harry said laughing, pointing to Ron's elbow which he had just place in his cereal as he gazed at Hermione.

**"Oh right, yes." **Ron said blushing slightly from embarrassment as he tried to ring some of the milk out of his robe. The slight distraction made Ron aware of another pair of eyes gazing at Hermione, Malfoy's. Malfoy noticed this and looked back to his breakfast.

**"What was that about?"** Ron said to Harry.

**"What was what about?" **Harry replied, looking slightly confused.

**"Malfoy, he was staring at Hermione. I wonder what he's up to."** Ron said looking over to see if Malfoy was doing anything untoward.

**"Maybe he loves her." **Harry said laughing.

**"Eww."** Hermione laughed, joining in to the conversation.

**"Let's go back to the common room, I feel uncomfortable with Malfoy staring over here." **Ron said as he began to stand up.

**"You guys go ahead, I'll meet you up there in a minute, I just want to finish this." **Hermione said, pointing to her breakfast. Ron nodded, leant over the table and gave her a lingering kiss. He and Harry left the great hall and headed for the Griffindor common room. Hermione waited until she was sure that both Ron and Harry had left the hall. She shot out of her seat and made her way down the side of the Slytherin table, towards Malfoy, giving him a discreet tap on the shoulder

Malfoy watched as Hermione walked towards the doors of the great hall. He quickly followed her out, making sure nobody realised what he was doing. He followed her as she walked towards a discreet corner of the castle. Noticing that every so often she would look behind her to make sure he was following. Once she got to her destination Hermione turned around to face Malfoy, he moved in and gave her a passionate kiss, not noticing if anyone else was around. Hermione pushed him so that she could talk.

**"Draco we have to be more careful."** She said gasping for air after the kiss.

**"What do you mean?"** Draco said trying to move in for another kiss, but Hermione pushed him back again.

**"I mean that Ron saw you staring at me in the Great Hall, and we can't be doing this in public."** Hermione said in an authoritative tone. **"Ron or Harry don't know yet, do you know what they would do if they found out. Anyway me and Ron are still going out I mean it's only been two months, I can't just break his heart like that."** Hermione changed her tone.

**"Your always spending time with weasel and hardly any with me, what about my heart."** Malfoy said in an angry tone.

**"Don't call him weasel, he is still my friend you know." **Hermione snapped back.

**"When can we be together?"** Malfoy asked.

**"Soon, I just have to wait for the perfect moment."**

**"Andy when will that be?" **Malfoy demanded.

**"Soon."** Hermione said giving Malfoy a quick kiss, melting the ice that had been there just before.

Hermione walked away, not believing the mess she had got her self in to. She had only been with Ron a month when she started to see Malfoy. He came up to her one day in the library, when no one was there, and kissed her. Draco Malfoy, the one who always called her mudblood and taunted her everyday, he came straight up to her and placed a kiss on her lips. The most surprising this was she responded she completely forgot about Ron for those moments, she felt so bad afterwards. She continued though, growing to like Malfoy more each day. Now he wanted her to break up with Ron, she didn't know what to do. She didn't really want to break up with Ron but she equally liked Malfoy, his bad boy image made him seem quite attractive.

**"Where have you been?"** Ron asked as Hermione walked through the portrait hole, snapping out of her train of thought.

**"Oh sorry I had to go and talk to Professor McGonnagle to talk about transfiguration homework."** Hermione said, as it was the first thing that came to mind.

**"Do you ever think of anything else but homework?"** Harry said laughing.

**"I think of Ron."** Hermione said quietly, this made Ron blush. He still found it hard believing that he was with Hermione, the girl of his dreams. After an hour, of chatting in the common room, it was time for the trio to go to Potions. As they arrived out side the classroom they could see Malfoy standing outside the classroom, no one else was around.

**"Weaselby."** Malfoy glared at Ron, feeling so jealous of him. He wanted Hermione, Hermione was his not Ron's. He wished he could just blow up Ron and then he could have her to himself.

**"I told you not to call him that!"** Hermione shouted at Malfoy.

**"Come one Hermione, you know that you don't want him or you wouldn't be with me."** Malfoy retorted giving a sly smile in Ron's direction,

**"What, what's going on here?"** Ron said feeling confused.

**"You girlfriend, weaselby, has been seeing me in private. It seems that you are not man enough for her." **Malfoy laughed.

**"Is this true Hermione?" **Ron asked feeling worried about what the reply will be, Hermione says nothing. **"Why did you do it?"**

**"You ruined everything Draco."** Hermione ran off crying.


	2. What's a girl to do?

Ron was rooted to the spot, he couldn't move, he was in shock about what he had just heard. The cocky smile that was on Malfoy's face just moments before had vanished and had been replaced by a worried look. He made towards the direction that Hermione had just stormed off in.

**"Don't you dare."** Ron said suddenly finding confidence he never normally had, he supposed it was due to his anger. **"Hermione is my girlfriend I'm going to talk to her, ok."** Ron continued with this new found confidence. Malfoy just looked at him as if he were a piece of dirt, and walked straight past him like he wasn't there.

**"How can she even think about looking at Malfoy after all he's said to her, and anyway I thought she was supposed like me not him."** Ron could feel the tears welling up in his eyes.

**"I'm sure there is just a miss understanding."** Harry tried to comfort his friend, not knowing what else to say to him.

**"It couldn't have been, did you see the look on his face? There is definitely something going on with those two."** Ron said noticing the other members of Griffindor and Slytherin arriving for potions.

**"Try to forget about it, and lets not blow anything up, yeah." **Harry said, watching a small smile for on Ron's face.

Malfoy had run after Hermione, managing to catch her before she went through the portrait hole to the Griffindor common room.

**"Hermione wait."** Malfoy shouted after her.

**"What do you want Draco?"** She scowled at him.

**"Let me talk to you."** Malfoy pleads holding on to Hermione's arm.

**"Why should I even look at you, tell me why."** Hermione pulled her arm away, at this moment if looks could kill Malfoy would be dead. Malfoy stood there rooted to the ground, he could not think of any reason. He liked her but was that really enough to make her forgive him.

**"Look Hermione I really, really like you, the only reason I said that was so I could have you all to myself."** Draco pleaded hoping this would be enough.

**"Well you don't have me at all now do you." **Hermione then shouted the password for the common room. The fat lady jumped with fright at the scream and reluctantly opened, Hermione made her way through the hole.

**"Fine go off to weaselby then, mudblood."** Malfoy said, his facial expression changing, and stormed off. Hermione began to cry, as much as she was angry with Malfoy that it hurt that he had said that to her. She sat in the common room crying to herself, she didn't even notice when Ron and Harry walked through the portrait hole.

**"Hermione, what the fuck was that about. What were you thinking about."** Ron shouted at her as soon as he saw her sitting next to the fire. Hermione felt too upset to even try to defend her self, she just wanted to be left alone. **"Hermione talk to me, why are you seeing the enemy when you're my girlfriend?"** Ron continued to shout at her.

**"Come on Ron, can't you see she's upset, why don't you just leave it for now."** Harry pulled back Ron trying to calm him down.

**"I don't give a fucking damn if she's upset, I'm upset, it's her own damn fault."** Ron had turned on Harry. Hermione stood up and walked straight through the pair of them, to her room, crying.

**"Couldn't you just leave her for now, wait for both of yous to calm down."** Harry said wanting to distil the argument.

**"No I am talking to her ok."** Ron said walking towards the stairs for the girls' dormitory.

**"Ron you won't…"** Harry wasn't able to finish his sentence before the stairs had turned in to a slide and sent Ron sliding back down, on to the common room floor. With his determination to talk to Hermione he pulled himself up to the door by using the banister. He barged through the door, with no notion of knocking, Hermione jumped with surprise, as she clearly hadn't expected him to walk through the door.

**"Hermione, we need to talk right now."** Ron demanded, sitting opposite her, on one of the other girl's bed.

**"I'm so sorry Ron I didn't mean to do it, I'm so sorry for what I did."** Hermione just blurted out.

**"Why did you do it, and why Malfoy, he has been so horrible to you."** Ron had calmed down, he knew shouting wouldn't get him any were with Hermione, he knew this from experience.

**"I don't know, I guess its cause I don't get much attention from guys, so when Draco gave me some attention I just got absorbed in."** Hermione said trying to reason with Ron.

**"So who do you like better me or him?"** Ron said rather abruptly.

**"What!" **Hermione exclaimed shocked at the question.

**"You heard me perfectly well, who do you like better?" **Ron repeated with a bit more anger in his voice.

**"What sort of question is that, how dare you ask me."** Hermione stood up to face Ron, who in turn stood up and stared her in the face.

**"I guess you still like him then, or you would have just answered the question. I can not believe you, after all he said."** Ron shouted walking out of the room, forgetting about the stairs and sliding down them and landing in a heap in the common room.


	3. Who does she choose?

Hermione didn't move, she was still in shock with Ron's outburst. She didn't know what to feel, shocked, upset or angry, right now the only thing she felt was confused. She was torn between the guy she should love and the guy she shouldn't.  
On paper Ron was the guy for her, but there was just something about Malfoy that drew her in. She decided that it was about time to go in to the common room, she had been sitting in her room for two hours. Looking down the stairs in to the common room she could only see Harry.

**"Hey Hermione."** Harry smiled at her as she sat down opposite to him.

**"I see your talking to me, you're the only one."** Hermione said giving Harry a weak smile.

**"Just because I'm talking to you doesn't mean I approve of what you're doing. Ron is really hurt right now, you do know how much he likes you."** Harry replies, not really showing any emotion on his face.

**"I know, I know and I'm sorry. I really like him too, but I really like Draco too."** Harry winced at the sound of Hermione calling Malfoy by his first name, this was still alien to him.

**"What was going through your mind when you decided you were going to start seeing Malfoy?"**

**"Look for six years the only attention I got from a guy was Viktor and he lives in Bulgaria. I was just happy to get the attention. Draco has a much softer side you know."** Hermione speaks with a slight smile, thinking of the time she had spent with Malfoy.

**"Can you not call him Draco please. What about Ron in all of this, don't his feelings count for anything?"** Harry leaned closer to Hermione.

**"They do, I do really like Ron and I'm sorry for what I did. I just need time to think."** Hermione protested, she got up and walked out through the portrait hole. Turning the corner as she did so she bumped in to someone. Looking up she saw Malfoy staring straight in to her eyes. Without a word he pulled her in close and kissed her. She didn't notice Ron walking past, the look on his face was one of pure hurt. For that moment she forgot about everything and let Malfoy take control.

Still standing there, Ron coughed to get some attention from them. **"So I see you don't want me anymore."** Ron said tears coming to the surface.

**"No I don't think she does."** Malfoy sneered.

**"Who asked you anything, Malfoy."** Ron spat.

**"Well she is my girlfriend, I think I have a say in this don't you."** Malfoy said putting his arm around Hermione, she shrugged his arm off.

**"Looks like she doesn't want you."** Ron said laughing at a shocked Malfoy.

**"I don't want either of you if you're going to act like that."** Hermione walked in through the portrait hole, which was open after Seamus had just walked out. Ron ran after her, leaving Malfoy standing on his own not able to get in to the Griffindor common room. Hermione ran straight to her room, Ron still running after her.

**"Oh fuck not this again."** Ron said remembering what happened last time he tried to go up those stairs. With his determination he got up the stairs. He knew he had to talk to Hermione, there was no stopping him. Seeing her with Malfoy made him realise how much he wanted her, it didn't matter what she did he wanted to be with her.

**"Hermione"** Ron said sheepishly, actually knocking this time. No answer came from the room so he decided to go in anyway. Poking his head around the door he saw Hermione sitting on her bed crying. He walked over to her, putting his arm around her.

**"I'm so sorry Ron, I didn't mean to hurt you."** Hermione said looking up at him.

**"It doesn't matter now, let's just forget it happened."** Ron hugged her.

**"Ron, I really, really like you. After Draco's display it just made me realise that he will never change, and you will always be better than him. I am so sorry and I promise I will never do it again."** Hermione sat up and looked Ron directly in the eyes.

**"It's ok, I'm just glad you saw sense and realise I'm best."** Ron laughed, Hermione joined with a weak laugh as she dried her eyes. Ron put his hand under her chin and placed his lips on hers. Hermione could feel explosions in her stomach, and was so glad she could feel this moment again.


	4. The letter

Ron reluctantly broke the kiss and sat up. **"I have to go for quidditch practice with Harry."** Ron gave Hermione another long kiss before he left the room. Walking down the stairs he was prepared, so he hung on to the banister and slid down once the steps turned in to a slide.

**"Right you ready?"** Harry asked Ron just nodded. **"Is it all ok with you and Hermione?"** Harry asked as they reached the portrait hole.

**"Yeah she has finally agreed to dump that ferret!"** Ron said triumphantly.

**"What did you just say."** An angry Malfoy was now standing in front of Ron with his wand pointed towards his neck.

**"I said that Hermione had finally dumped your ass!"** Ron shouted his anger making him oblivious to the risk of Malfoy's wand at his neck.

**"Quasso."** Malfoy shouted pointing his wand at Ron's right arm. Ron collapsed with the pain of his arm smashing in to hundreds of little pieces.

**"What have you done Malfoy?"** Harry pointed his wand at Malfoy.

**"Just a little spell I've been working on, I don't think weaselby will be playing quidditch today."** Malfoy said laughing.

**"Come on Ron Madam Pomfrey will sort this out."** Harry said helping Ron up with his good arm. Malfoy just stood there laughing.

Two weeks had passed since the argument. Ron was back playing quidditch and he took every chance he could to make sure Hermione knew who had hurt him. Hermione hadn't said a word to Malfoy and it was killing him, although he didn't show it. He had a reputation to up hold and pining over the goody-goody-two-shoes Griffindor Granger would not do anything to help it. He was finding it hard enough to keep his image when the Slytherins found out that he had been involved with Hermione.

**"Hey Hermione."** Ron smiled as Hermione walked in to the Griffindor common room. She walked straight over to Ron and planted a kiss straight on his lips.

**"Get a room."** Seamus shouts laughing at them. Ron and Hermione pull away from each other, Ron's cheeks went red.

**"Hermione this just came for you."** Lavender said running down from the girls dorms, holding an envelope with Hermione's name on it. Curious to find it contents Hermione ripped the envelope open. Inside there was a letter with hurried writing on it reading:

_Hermione,  
Please meet me at the lake at 8:30.  
Draco_

Hermione looked at her watch noticing that it was 8:20, she had ten minutes to get to the lake. She shoved the letter in to her pocket, gave Ron a quick kiss and ran out the portrait hole. Hermione ran as fast as she could to the lake. She couldn't quite figure why, she hated Malfoy after what he did to Ron, but her legs were taking her to the lake. As she reached the lake her legs suddenly felt like lead and she was moving quite slowly by this point.

**"Hermione."** A deep voice came from behind her, which made her jump. She turned around to see Malfoy staring her right in the face. **"I didn't think you were going to come."** A slight smile cracked his otherwise serious looking face.

**"To be honest I don't even know why I'm here."** Hermione replied with no emotion playing on her face, but one of perhaps slight confusion.

**"I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I did, I got so jealous of you and Ron. Hermione please forgive me."** Malfoy said moving closer to Hermione.

**"I don't know that I can."** Hermione said, her breathing getting heavier as Malfoy moved closer. After what seemed like an eternity Malfoy kissed her.

**"Now can you forgive me."** Hermione said nothing, but pulled Malfoy in for a longer more passionate she came to her senses she pulled away from an ecstatic Malfoy.

**"I'm sorry we can't do this, I can't get in to this again."** Hermione said shaking her head.

**"Please stay here, look what Ron doesn't know wont hurt him."** Malfoy said pulling Hermione close to him.

**"You will tell him though, you won't be able to stop yourself from lording it over him."** Hermione protested.

**"I promise I won't say anything, please just don't go."** Malfoy said, with pleading in his voice for the first time.

**"No, I have to go, you won't be able to stop yourself and I can't do this to Ron not again."** Hermione pushed herself away from Malfoy and ran in to the castle. She ran the whole way back to the Griffindor common room, Ron was still sitting by the fire, waiting for her. Hermione said nothing to him, but lay next to him and fell asleep.


	5. What he doesn't know won't hurt him

Malfoy was left standing next to the lake, feeling confused. He wasn't sure what had just happened, one minute he had been kissing Hermione and the next she was gone. He hated this, he didn't even know why he liked Hermione, she was a filthy mud-blood. He was just about to walk back to the castle when he saw Pansy walking towards him.

**"Drakie, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you everywhere." **She said wrapping her arms around his neck.

**"I was just getting some air, you know what it's like having to spend the evening with those two oafs, Crabbe and Goyle, it drives you mental."** Malfoy said putting a feigned smile on his face.

**"We should go in, if Snape catches us out here he will kill us."** Pansy said taking Malfoy's hand and dragging him back to the castle. On his was back to the dorm it hit him, he was going to make Granger jealous with Pansy. A sly smile spread across his face as they walked through the portrait hole.

Hermione woke up with Ron's arm still around her. His head was leaning back on to the top of the couch, his mouth was wide open and he was snoring loudly. Hermione let out a slight giggle at this sight. She slowly moved his arm so she could go up to her room and get changed. Seeing as it was the weekend she decided that she was going to go to the library before they went to Hogsmead. When she had arrived back in the common room Ron was up and moving.

**"Where did you go?"** Ron said looking from Hermione to the spot on the couch where she had fallen asleep.

**"I woke up just before, so I thought I would go to the library. I thought it might be a good idea to get changed first."** Hermione said with a slight giggle.

**"Couldn't you just stay here with me just forget about the library today."** Ron put a mock sad face on.

**"No I can't, we've got N.E.W.T.s this year, I can't miss any chance to revise."** Ron shook his head at this comment, laughing slightly.** "I'll meet you back here before we have to go to Hogsmead." **Hermione gave Ron a lingering kiss on the lips and disappeared through the portrait hole. Ron sat back on the couch smiling to himself, he still couldn't believe that he and Hermione were together, finally. He snapped out of his daydream when he had felt a sudden weight on him. He opened his eyes to realise that Harry and Seamus had just jumped on him.

**"Whatcha thinkin' about."** Harry said putting his arm around Ron's shoulders.

**"I think he's thinkin' about Hermione."** Seamus said taking Harry's lead. Ron shook his head and stood up. "Are you sure you don't want to go to your room for that." Seamus laughed until he saw Harry's disgusted face.

**"Too far, she's like my sister man, I don't need those images."** Harry laughed.

**"You might not, but I wouldn't mind certain images of Hermione." **Seamus raised his eyebrow.

**"That's my girlfriend you're talking about."** Ron said pointing his finger at Seamus.

**"I'm sorry mate, I was only joking."** Seamus raised his hands up. It was a mere two hours later when they were all in Hogsmead. Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny were sitting in the three broomsticks. Hermione was smiling at Ron, well that was until she saw Malfoy walk in holding hands with Pansy Parkinson. They sat down next to each other, proceeding to try and suck each other's face off. Hermione saw Malfoy glance at her as her did this.

**"I'm just going to go out side for a second, I just need some air." **Hermione said getting up and was about to make her way to the door.

**"Do you want me to come with you?" **Ron said looking up to meet Hermione's gaze.

**"No I'm ok, I'll be back it two secs I just need a bit of air."** She gave Ron a quick kiss on the cheek and walked out the door. Malfoy had seen Hermione leave and had walked out following her.

**"So do you like your own medicine."** Malfoy said sneering.

**"What are you talking about?"** Hermione shot a glare of daggers towards Malfoy.

**"Well I thought that if you saw me with Pansy then you would realise how I felt when you were with Ron."** Malfoy explained calmly as if it was nothing.

**"Oh my God you are an idiot, don't you understand? I want to be with Ron, not you, so stop with these haphazard plans of yours." **Hermione said waving her arms about. Malfoy looked hurt for a moment until he pulled her in for a kiss It took Hermione a moment to realise what was going on, but when she did she pushed him away immediately. It was too late though, Ron had come out to check on her and he had seen everything, he had just seen his girlfriend kiss the enemy.

**"What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you such an idiot that you don't understand what I'm saying, I don't want you!"** An enraged Hermione began to shout. They were beginning to get a crowd, a few people from lower down the school and other members of the public. **"Now don't bother me again"** Hermione stormed back in to the pub, Malfoy behind her. Although he walked over to Pansy and dragged her out the door. He was enraged with Hermione's reaction, he didn't even want to be in the same room as her. Ron was sitting opposite Harry and Ginny with a face like thunder, he didn't even look at Hermione when she sat down. Oblivious to Ron seeing the "incident" she plastered a smile on her face.


	6. What have I done now?

Ginny and Hermione walked out of the three broomsticks linking arms and giggling, Ron and Harry were walking a few meters behind them.

**"What the hell is the matter with you?"** Harry hissed at Ron. **"You have been a completely moody git since you went back in to the pub." **Harry continued to rant.

**"It's her."** Ron pointed at Hermione, who was still completely oblivious to Ron's bad mood. Mostly thanks to Ginny who hadn't really taken a breath since Hermione had sad down.

**"What's Hermione done now?" **Harry said with a slightly confused look on his face.

**"I found her kissing Malfoy when I went to see if she was ok."** Ron said, putting emphasis on the words kissing and Malfoy. For a moment Harry just stopped moving, once what Ron had just said had sunk in he caught up with a distressed Ron.

**"She said that was over." **Harry said shaking his head.

**"I know, I thought it was over too, but it's obviously not. I don't even how she can do it, I mean Malfoy's always been horrible to her." **Ron began to rant.

**"What are you going to say to her."** Harry inquired.

**"I'm not going to say anything, I want to see if she tells me."** Ron said proud that he had thought of this plan himself.

**"How long do you reckon that's going to take?"**

**"I don't know, I hope not too long, because I will have to say something eventually."** Ron said, using all his strength to not go up to Hermione and scream at her. Ron was silent the rest of the way back up to the castle, mentally going over what he had seen that day. Hermione had said a few things to him, but he had only grunted in return. She eventually gave up trying to talk to him and left the compartment to talk to Lavender and Ginny.

Draco was sitting in his compartment with Pansy sitting next to him. She roamed her hands all over him and he let her, he needed something to keep his mind off a certain mud blood. Well that's what he kept telling himself. He thought that if he kept calling her a mood blood he would hate her again.

**"Drakie what's wrong, don't you like this."** She said pulling away from their kiss.

**"I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling good."** Malfoy said indicating towards his stomach, Pansy completely ignored this and stated kissing him again.

**"Would you two get a room."** Zabini said walking in to the compartment, laughing.

**"I thought that's what we did!"** Malfoy laughed and Zabini joined in.

The Griffindors piled in to their common room, Ron just sat on the chair nearest to the fire. Hermione saw the depressed figure sitting slumped on a chair, she immediately walked over to him.

**"Ron honey, what's wrong."** Hermione knelt infront of him.

**"I'm sorry, but if you don't know what's wrong than I'm not going to tell you." **Ron said not looking up from the spot of the fire he was staring at.

**"Please Ron, have I done something to upset you?"** Hermione asked confused, not thinking she had done anything wrong as it was Malfoy who had kissed her, and to her knowledge Ron hadn't seen anything.

**"Well of course you bloody have, now go away, and maybe I'll talk to you when you know what you've done."** Ron spat, this time glaring at Hermione. She simply stood up and stomped out of the common room, through the portrait hole, with Ginny hot on her heels. Hermione had managed to find her way out to the grounds of Hogwarts, she need some air she could stay in the same common room with Ron in that sort of mood with her. She needed to figure out what was wrong with Ron and how she was going to apologise to him, for whatever it was.

**"Hermione!" **Ginny shouted for the umpteenth time, this time finally getting her attention. Hermione stopped and turned around to find Ginny Weasely running down the hill after her.

**"Hey Ginny, what are you doing out here?" **

**"I saw you and Ron have an argument, and then you stormed out. So I thought I would come and see how you were and what it was about." **Ginny explained trying to catch her breath from running after Hermione. Hermione sat down on the grass, Ginny followed suit.

**"I don't actually know what the argument was about, to be honest. Ron was in a mood so I asked him why and he just said I should know why. I don't know what I should know, I haven't done anything wrong." **Hermione began to rant.

**"Well he's been in a mood since Hogsmead. He went to check on you, you know when you went for some air, and then he came back in a mood."** Ginny said trying to help her friend's predicament.

**"Oh my God, he must have seen Malfoy kissing me."** Hermione said, as if she had just had an epiphany.

**"Why was Malfoy kissing you, I thought you had finished with him."** Ginny said confused.

**"I did, he came out of the pub when I went to get some air. I tried to tell him to do one, but he just kept persisting and then he kissed me. I was in shock for a bit, but I shoved him off when I realised what was going on."** Hermione put her head in her hands.

**"Look Hermione, lets go back to the dorms. We'll forget about this and I'll talk to my idiot brother later."** Ginny said with a smile as she stood up.

**"Thanks."** Hermione smiled back. They made there way back to the girls dorms, Hermione avoiding any potential eye contact with Ron, by looking straight ahead.


	7. Who is it?

Ginny had spent the last few days trying to persuade Ron to talk to Hermione, with no luck. 'He is so stubborn.' Ginny kept saying with a grunt every time she had finished a conversation with Ron. Hermione was distraught even Malfoy wasn't talking to her. That's what she wanted, wasn't it? Hermione didn't know what she wanted anymore, she really liked Ron, but there was something about Malfoy that made her want him. Now that he wasn't talking to her she wanted him more, she felt like her heart was tearing in two with indecision.

**"Right I spoke to him again, I think I'm breaking him." **Ginny said walking in to Hermione's dorm.

**"Thank you so much for doing this for me, I don't know what I'd do with out you."** Hermione smiled up at Ginny, as Ginny took a seat opposite her on Lavenders bed.

**"You do know, if you break my brother's heart again I'm never going to talk to you again." **Ginny said wagging her finger at Hermione.

**"Yes mum, I understand."** They both laughed at this comment for a few moments. Both girls screamed out of fright when an owl started banging on the window with its beak. Hermione jumped up and opened the window to let the owl in. She grabbed the letter of him, which was addressed to her, he began to peck her until he was paid. Hermione tore the envelope open almost tearing the letter inside. The letter read:

Meet me out side the room of requirement tonight at 8.

**"Who is it from?"** Ginny said eagerly.

**"I don't know, it doesn't say."** Hermione said flipping the letter over trying to find any sign of a name. **"Who rights a letter and then doesn't sign their name?"** Hermione said, still looking for a name.

**"What does it say? I'm sure you should be able to tell from that." **Ginny said taking hold of the letter. She read over it and screwed her face up in thought, trying to figure out who wrote the letter. "Who knows about the room of requirement? And who knows that you know about it?" Ginny said her mind still visibly trying to work out who it was.

**"Well any member of DA will know that I know, so it must be one of them." **Hermione decided.

**"Well we'll just have to see who it is." **Hermione said taking the letter back and putting it on the desk next to her bed. **"How are things going with you and Harry then? I saw him giving you the eye before." **Hermione giggled at her last comment.

**"Well we're seeing what happens, don't tell Ron though he doesn't know."** Ginny made sure she added that on the end.

**"I don't think I could tell Ron even if I wanted to, he moves every time I go near him. I would have to shout it across the common room if I wanted to tell him anything."** Hermione said in a defeated voice.

**"Don't worry I'll get through my brothers think skull. It might take a while, because it's so thick." **Hermione cheered up slightly after Ginny said this.

*

To Hermione it still seemed like Ron wasn't talking to her, as much as Ginny kept saying he was coming around. As much as she wanted the letter to be from Ron she didn't see how it could, he was being moody with her.

**"Ginny what am I going to wear for this? I mean if it's from Ron I want to wear something nice, but if it is someone else then I don't want who ever to get the wrong impression. It could just be an innocent meeting." **Hermione began to ramble.

**"If it was just an innocent meeting they would have signed their name."** Ginny replied, this only made Hermione more nervous.

*

**"Ron, when are you going to talk to Hermione? This can't go on forever or I think my head will explode." **Harry said miming a big explosion on either side of his head, with his hands.

**"I will talk to her when I know she isn't still seeing Malfoy, I mean how could she, with him?"** Ron ranted. **"Do you know what, I think I'm going to give her a piece of her own medicine and see how she likes it." **He said as if a light bulb had gone off in his head.

**"What?" **Harry looked at Ron with a confused look on his face.

**"I'm going to see someone else, and make sure Hermione knows about it. Then she will know how I feel and come running back to me." **Ron said after seeing the confused look on Harry's face.

**"So do you know who it's going to be, or are you just going to see what happens." **Harry asked intrigued about who Ron would choose, and how well the plan would work. He had known Ron for five years now, this was the sixth year, and he knew how well his other plans had worked so he didn't really hold much hope for this one.

**"Lavender!"** Ron almost shouted out. A few heads turned to give him a strange look, but quickly turned back to their conversations. **"She had a thing for me at the end of last year, I'll see if she will go out with me." **Ron explained quickly to Harry.

**"I just hope this works, it might backfire and Hermione will never talk to you again." **Harry said with a worried look on his face Ron's face dropped when he saw Harry's.

**"You don't think I'm clever enough to think up a good play, do you?" **Ron accused Harry.

**"I do, I just don't want you to mess things up with her, she is still my friend and I do care if you hurt her feelings, ok." **Harry looked sternly at Ron.

**"It's ok don't worry, Harry I love her I don't want to hurt her too much. I just want her to know how I feel." **Ron's ears went slightly red after he made the comment about loving Hermione.

*

Hermione walked down the stairs that led to the common room. She was ready for her meeting, with who ever it was. She was wearing a knee-length black skirt, which she had completely forgotten she had owned. She was also wearing a plain white mini-t. She didn't want to wear anything too revealing in case it was someone she didn't like, but she wanted to look nice in case it was someone she did.  
Her heart dropped though when she saw Ron still sitting in the common room. All hope that it could have been him who sent the letter was gone. Ron was staring at Hermione, he wanted her badly, but he had to teach her a lesson first. Hermione walked straight out of the common room and on to the room of requirement. The door sung open and she was shocked to see the face on the other side.

**"Draco."** Hermione said shocked. She could see what looked like a restaurant table with a candle in the middle and two plates of dinner on it. Against what her head was shouting at her, she walked in and sat opposite where Malfoy had taken his seat.


	8. Odd colours

"What's this all about?" Hermione asked completely dumbstruck. "You weren't even talking to me before." She continued examining the food on the table. She saw what seemed to be a mushroom risotto, sitting on a gold plate. The rest of the room was a mixture of gold and red on one side, on the other side the colours were green and silver. It didn't really go together, but she wasn't going to question Draco on his chose of colours.

"I wanted to let you know that I forgive you." Malfoy said flatly. Hermione was confused by this comment She looked at Draco trying to get any indication to what this comment meant, but she got nothing. His face was completely emotionless, as he looked, over the room, towards her

"I'm sorry…" Hermione began, still not managing to read Malfoy's expression. "… what do you forgive me for?" Hermione didn't want to sound stupid, she hated not knowing things, but she had to ask.

"I forgive you for turning me down, you know for Weasley. I wanted to give you another chance to change your mind." Malfoy stated arrogantly, as if Hermione was lucky he was giving her another chance. At first Hermione wanted to scream at Malfoy, saying that she didn't need to be forgiven, but she remained silent. She wanted to see where it went, after all she had nothing to loose. Ron wasn't talking to her, so in her mind she was a free agent, if that involved dinner with Draco Malfoy then so be it.

"Well thanks, I appreciate it." Hermione plastered a fake smile on her face, if Ron thought she was kissing Malfoy she was sure as going to do it then. She didn't want to be accused of something she wasn't doing, so the best way to counter that was to do that exact thing. "I didn't know you could cook Draco." Hermione said looking down at the two plates, which hadn't been touched since she had arrived.

"I can't, I didn't cook this." He admitted with a smirk.

"Then how did it get here?" Hermione asked curious now to how the food had got on the table.

"Look around you, this is the room of requirement. I just asked for everything I wanted, and here it is. I couldn't ask for you though, but fortunately you turned up." Malfoy gave his famous smirk once he had finished talking. Hermione wanted to laugh at the cheesyness of that last line, but she held it in. "I think we should probably eat up before it goes cold. I mean all that hard work I put in to it and all." Hermione let out a slight giggle at the comment. This was a side of Draco Malfoy she hadn't seen before, even when she was sneaking around with him. Then it was find the nearest secluded area, and then talk or even better make-out. This was a soft side of Malfoy and she liked it, it was ever so endearing to her, she didn't want it to change.

"So I guess you've dumped Pansy then." Hermione blurted out before she could stop herself. She didn't really know why she had brought this up, she just did.

"Ugh, yeah I did, she is so annoying. She is always like Drakie come sit next to me, Drakie come do this with me." Malfoy said in an annoyingly high pitched voice. Hermione almost laughed, a boy shouldn't be able to reach a voice that high. "I couldn't wait to get away from her, and of course I wanted to be with you. I couldn't well be with you if she was hanging around." He continued moving his hand across the table to take Hermione's. Hermione wasn't too sure what to think of Malfoy's comment, but she just went along with it.

"That's nice to know, I'm glad you thought enough of me to dump her. I mean wouldn't your dad be so mad." Hermione said moving around the table to sit of Malfoy's lap. By this time both plates were empty and were now cleaning themselves. Malfoy moved his chair back slightly to allow Hermione to sit down. "You know Draco, I think you've changed." She said looking in to his eyes while running her fingers through his hair. She noticed the worried look on his face. "I like it." She said moving her head down to kiss him, he responded with force. Hermione noticed the room around her changing. It now had a single bed in the centre of the room. The walls had also changed colour, they were now a deep red colour. Malfoy had obviously wanted to change the room for certain purposes. Hermione knew this purpose, but she didn't care she wanted to feel wanted and Draco made her feel that way.

The next while just seemed like a blur to her. It started off like agony, but then it changed to a feeling of pleasure. The next thing she knew she was laying down on the bed, out of breath. Everything in her head that this was wrong, but she didn't care she enjoyed it. She turned over to see Draco looking her straight in the eye, she did nothing but smile at him.

"Nobody can know about this." The blank expression on his face never flickered as he said this. Hermione was frozen to the spot on the bed where she lay. She couldn't believe what she had just heard, this good moment she was sharing with Malfoy had just been destroyed.

"Wha – why?" Hermione stammered not able to say much else at this point.

"I can't tell people, I have a reputation to up hold. Can you imagine what people would say if they knew I was sleeping with a Griffindor bookworm." Malfoy exclaimed as he got out of the bed and began to put his clothes on. "You were a toy really, you didn't think I really dumped Pansy did you? I just wanted to see if I could get in to you, and I did so job done." Malfoy said it as if he was telling her he was going for a walk. Hermione's eyes began to well up, she knew this was too good to be true. She wanted to hurt Ron, but she just ended up hurting herself. She threw her clothes on as quickly as her shaking arms would let her, she wanted to get out of this room. Without another word to Malfoy she ran out of the room and straight to the Griffindor common room.

"Blast ended screwts." She said between sobs to the portrait of the fat lady. The portrait swung open and Hermione slumped in not wanting to draw any attention to her self. That's when she saw it, the one thing she couldn't bare seeing at this point. Ron was sitting in his favourite chair next to the fire, that's not what made her emit a loud wail, Lavender Brown was sitting on top of him practically sucking his face off. Hermione ran up to her dorm room sobbing, not even sure if Ron had noticed her at all.


	9. It's just so hard!

Ginny had seen Hermione run up the stairs and decided to follow her. Hermione's sobs could be heard clearly from the common room, it was a wonder how anyone was actually getting any work done. Ginny stood in front on the door that said 'sixth years', placing her hand on the door knob, not knowing what to expect on the other side. The girl's dormitories were much the same as the boys, five four-poster beds placed around the edges of the room. Hermione's was the furthest from the door, next to the far window. When she did open the door she saw a complete site, Hermione, with huge puffy red eyes, curled up on the floor. She hadn't even managed to get to her bed, her sobs had taken over her before she got there. Ginny rushed in to the centre of the room and lifted Hermione in to a hug.

"It's ok 'mione, what happened." Ginny said softly, but all she got was a fresh bout of sobs in response. "Take your time, but it'll be much better for you to share it. My mother always said it was never good to keep your emotions bottle up." Ginny sat down next to Hermione, her knees sore from crouching.

"I can't tell you, I'm sorry, but I can't." Hermione said through sobs. Ginny for a moment was almost shocked that Hermione had spoken. She looked back down at Hermione expecting a reason, but none came.

"Why can't you tell me, I'm your friend you can tell me everything." Ginny said, feeling hurt that Hermione had chosen to exclude her.

"I can't tell you, because you'll hate me forever." Hermione sat up to look at Ginny.

"Just tell me, I promise I won't hate you." Ginny smile softly. It didn't look like Hermione was going to break, but out of nowhere she told her.

"I slept with Malfoy." Hermione said waiting to here Ginny's response.

"You what!" Ginny jumped up, putting some distance between her and Hermione so she wouldn't slap her. "After all I did to get you and Ron back together, you said all that had finished." Ginny continued to scream.

"Well you'll be glad to know that it is, he told me that I was just a toy to him. Why aren't you shouting at Ron, he's down stairs sucking the face off Lavender Brown." Hermione retaliated, she wasn't going to be made to feel like the bad one in this situation.

"That's different." Ginny said, not able to come back with anything else. This only made Hermione angrier.

"How the hell is it different? Is it different because he's your brother?" Hermione was beginning to go red with rage.

"No it's different, because he isn't sleeping with her. He is only doing this to make you feel jealous." Ginny said in a matter of fact voice.

"I was only doing it to make Ron jealous, I don't really think I hurt him anyway. I think in the end I'm the one who got hurt so, you know, I don't think you need to preach to me. I have learnt my lesson the hard way, get that?" Hermione began to sob again, she was feeling so many emotions at this moment. Ginny stood there for a few moments, she was rooted to the spot, she didn't know what to say to Hermione. The rage that was there before had gone, she now felt sympathy for her. She looked at the wreck on the floor that was Hermione and couldn't feel anymore rage towards her, she had been hurt enough. She just left the room, she didn't want to feel sorry for her, after what she had done.

*

Hermione had been in the dormitories for several hours now. She hadn't really stopped crying since she had got in there. She had by this point though managed to get on to her bed, she was now wrapped up in her duvet covers. She looked up at the door when she heard it open, the worst person imaginable was standing in the doorway, Lavender. Her lips were red, from kissing Ron, Hermione though.

"You." Is all Hermione said before she ran across the room and dived on Lavender. "How could you kiss Ron, you knew what was going on with us. He's my boyfriend." Hermione screamed at Lavender, who was on the floor propped up against a wall.

"He's not your boyfriend anymore, I don't know what you did but he was pissed off. That why he came to me, he wanted an actual girl." Lavender sneered, Hermione immediately stopped crying and red with anger.

"I thought you were supposed to be my friend, and then you do something like this. You are nothing but a simple whore!" Hermione screamed, it would be surprising if even Dumbledore couldn't hear her from his office.

"How dare you talk to me like that." Lavender said moving towards Hermione, slapping her with an unnerving crack. Hermione had a handprint where Lavender's hand had made contact with her face.

"What does the truth hurt?" Hermione said with a menace in her eyes. Lavender let out a squeal running out of the room.

"Won- won you won't believe what she just said to me." Hermione could hear Lavender from the room, she wanted to throw up at the sound of the pet name. She felt so alone now, she had lost all of her friends. Harry was still talking to her, but she doubted that would last long after Ginny spoke to him. She let out a blood-curdling scream.


	10. This is the end

Ron's head jerked up at the sound of Hermione's scream, as did the rest of the common room. He was now torn between wanting to make Hermione feel jealous and wanting to check to see if she was ok. He looked over at Harry to see if he could give him any hint on what to do, but he was no help. Like the rest of the common room Harry was staring in the direction of the, sixth year's, girl's dormitory. After a few moments of silence everybody went back to what they were doing.

"Do you think she's ok?" Ron asked Harry, feeling a slight pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach.

"She's fine…", Lavender snapped, "…I just told her that you don't want her any more, because she is a bitch." Lavender had a stern look on her face.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Ron shouted at, a shocked, Lavender. She opened her mouth several times as if to say something, but found herself speechless. Ron's outburst had taken her completely by surprise. Ron ran up to the boy's dormitory, coming back down the stairs with a triumphant look on his face. He had hold of Harry's broom, he looked over to where Harry was sitting with a begging look on his face. Harry nodded to let Ron know he could use it. As much as Ron wanted to get to Hermione as quick as possible, he didn't want to risk slipping down the stairs once it turned in to a slide. He flung the door of the dormitory open, once he'd reached it. The sight on the other side was enough to root him to the spot with terror. Once he had absorbed the situation his feet began to move.

"Hermione!" He shouted as he ran across the room. Hermione was standing on the outer window ledge, to Ron's horror, it looked like she was about to jump. She almost fell with fright on hearing Ron's sudden exclamation. Ron grabbed hold of her robes tightly, not wanting to let go in case she slipped. "Hermione what the hell do you think you're doing?" Ron screamed again.

"What does it look like?" Hermione said, almost calmly.

"It looks like your trying to jump." Ron's voice falter, he tightened his grip on her robes.

"Well then you know what I'm trying to do, so let go of me." Hermione said, trying to shake off Ron's grip.

"Hermione, this is madness!" Ron screamed. "Why are you trying to jump, your going to kill yourself." Ron tried to pull Hermione through the window, but she pulled back on his tug.

"That is the point, idiot, now let go of me!" Hermione pulled harder, this time almost toppling over the edge.

"Why are you trying to jump?" Ron repeated his question, this time more forcefully.

"Because everybody hate me!" Hermione screamed, tears welling up in her eyes. Ron's face change to one with confusion written all over it. Hermione had forgotten where she was, she had wrapped her arms around Ron's neck, which was now sticking out through window.

"Hermione nobody hates you." Ron began to stroke Hermione's hair. He took this moment of weakness from Hermione to pull her through the window. This time she did not object, she clung on to Ron's neck, still crying. "I know I don't hate you." Ron still stroking her hair reassured Hermione.

"You weren't talking to me, you went off with Lavender too." Hermione sobbed, looking up at Ron.

"I was doing it to make you jealous, I don't really like Lavender." Ron explained, Hermione's eyes lit up slightly at this comment. "I really, really like you Hermione. Ginny is still your friend, and Harry. I'm quite sure that Neville and Luna are still talking to you. If you had have jumped off the ledge a lot of people would have missed you, me especially." Ron smiled down at Hermione.

"Does that mean we can go out again?" Hermione looked up at Ron hopefully.

"Maybe not yet. I think we should just be friends again, just to get the trust back again." He saw Hermione's face drop at this, but Ron remained adamant in his head that this was how it was going to be. "I will, though, dump Lavender." Hermione smiled again.

"Friends then?" Hermione sat up to look Ron in the eyes.

"Friends" Ron smiled. They sat smiling at each other for a few more moments before they decided to go to the common room. Ron took Harry's broom down to the common room, while Hermione took the stairs. She didn't much like flying, so she refused Ron's offer of a dramatic entrance.

"What happened up there?" Harry asked intrigued about what his friends had got up to.

"Oh nothing." Hermione said nonchalantly.


	11. La Fin

Hermione's mood had altered drastically, to that which she had ten minutes ago. She knew what she wanted, for once she didn't have conflicting ideas in her head. She had Ron and Ron was what she wanted, she knew she didn't want Draco anymore. Certainly not after what he had done to her, his actions had cleared her mind. She couldn't be with someone like that.

"You can't say nothing happened up there. You didn't scream like that for nothing." Harry said confused by his friend's comment.

"I was just a bit stressed, I had to let it all out you know." Hermione said with a new air of calm and peace about her. She knew the fight for Hermione was over, and really she was back where she started. She felt like hitting herself, because she could have stopped all the problems if she had realised Ron was what she wanted. She would have to work at getting back to where she was with Ron when the whole situation started.

"Well you certainly let it all out." Harry laughed. "I hope everything is ok between you two now, I hated being stuck in the middle you know." Hermione looked over to Ginny, who seemed to have lost the hostility she had towards her.

"It's not all completely sorted, we are just friends at the moment. It's going to take a little while before we start going out again." Ron explained.

"What the hell's the point in that, you know you two are just going to end up back together again. Why not just get back together and get it over and done with." Harry said exasperated. Ginny, who had his left arm wrapped around her, hit him in the stomach with her right hand.

"Stop being so thick Harry, they want to get the trust back first. At least this time they both know they like each other, so they won't be trying to hide it from everyone." Ginny said to Harry, as if he was a little child. Hermione looked at Harry and Ginny, she felt jealous of what they had. She had something like that, in fact it was better, and she had ruined it.

"You know, as much as I like being hit in the stomach and being spoken to like a child, I'm going to bed." Harry said giving a pouting Ginny a kiss on the top of her head, and walked up towards the boy's dormitories.

"I think I might go as well, I'll talk to you tomorrow Hermione." Ron said smiling at her, before he left the room. Hermione watched him walk all the way up the stairs, before she turned her attention back to her grinning friend.

"What are you smiling at?" Hermione wanted to laugh herself at the stupid expression on Ginny's face.

"You and Ron. You both clearly want to be more than friends, but you're both afraid to do anything to soon." Ginny was still smiling.

"I'm not afraid, I want something more. I just don't want to rush Ron, I don't want to loose him, ever." Hermione said in a matter of fact way.

"Listen to you, I think you two should be married already. You both act like you are." Ginny laughed.

*

Hermione was already in the common room, talking to Ginny, when Ron and Harry came down. She was not looking forward going to breakfast, when she knew Draco was going to be in the same room. Having Ron with her gave her some confidence.

"Can you two ever get up when you're supposed to? We only have fifteen minutes left before lessons." Hermione scolded the two boys.

"Isn't it nice to have the old Hermione back." Harry laughed as he and Ron made their way in to the common room. Hermione made a noise that sounded like a snort, but made no argument. She felt too happy to have friends again. "Come on lets just get down to breakfast, so we can have something to eat." She headed straight to the portrait hole and down to breakfast, with her three best friends closely in toe. Standing outside the hall was her worst fear, Draco Malfoy. Worst of all he had seen her and was walking over.

"Granger, how lovely to see you. I guess you don't want to meet with me for another rendezvous." He said looking at Ron standing closely behind her.

"No she sure as hell doesn't." Ron said suddenly standing in front of her. "So you can go off and talk to your little friends over there, and don't 'bother Hermione ever again." Draco's expression changed from that of shock to one of utter disgust. Disgust that someone like Ron was standing that close to him, and talking to him like that.

"How dare you even talk to me, let alone in that manner. You don't deserve to even breathe the same air as me, now shove off." Ron was about to retort when Hermione pushed him aside.

"Draco, you are not one to tell anyone what to do. Now please leave me alone, I never want to speak to you again. You are a vile piece of work and I don't want to associate with someone like you." Malfoy, with his ego suitably bruised stormed straight up the stairs behind Hermione. Hermione could feel her heart swell, Ron had stood up for her and she had managed to tell Draco where to go finally. She turned around to face her friends, who were smiling at her.

"I don't think he'll be coming out of his room for a while after that." Harry laughed.

"I didn't think you had it in you Hermione!" Ginny said in complete awe. They made their way to the main hall. As the made their way through the doors Ron wrapped his hand around Hermione's.

"I don't think I want to be just friends" Ron whispered in her ear. Hermione could have started dancing on the tables, she was that happy, she had Ron back.


End file.
